Heralded by a string of percussionists and dancers, a crowd gathered Thursday at the corner of Duffield and Fulton streets to applaud an official acknowledgement of a piece of Brooklyn history.

To the activists, preservationists and politicians who are fighting the demolition of homes on Duffield Street— believed by many to be a stop on the 19th century Underground Railroad— yesterday’s co-naming of the street to Abolitionist Place was a long-awaited vindication of their cause.

The event was also, they believed, a point of entrance. “This is the beginning,” said Duffield resident Lewis Greenstein, who said that slaves hid there on their way to freedom in Canada. “Let’s keep our fight alive.”